In the evening of September 24, the Chinese Consulate General in Lahore held a reception to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Governor of Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman, Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, Federal Minister for Privatization Fawad, heads of government departments of Punjab such as Department of Industry, Department of Information and Culture, Department of Health, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, Consul Generals of the U.S.A., Turkey, Iran in Lahore, and over 380 guests from all walks of life in Punjab were present.
Acting Consul General Cao Ke said in his speech that over the past 74 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, all Chinese people have made great achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) by working with one heart and one mind and through hard struggle. Especially in the new era, China is striding forward on the new journey of building a socialist modernized country in all aspects, no force can shake the status of our great motherland, and no force can stop the forward pace of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. He emphasized that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, China's economy still has great development resilience and potential, and the fundamentals of long-term positive development have not changed, China will continue to insist on safeguarding world peace, advancing the progress of the human society, and expand the connotations of the global community of shared future, and continue to benefit the people of the world. He introduced a series of measures taken by the Consulate General in the past year to promote exchanges and cooperation between Punjab and China, emphasizing that as the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor continues to be improved and upgraded, the cooperation between Punjab province and China in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure, information industry and other areas will surely usher in a new opportunity for development.
Governor Baligh Ur Rehman, on behalf of Punjab government, warmly congratulated the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He pointed out that over the past 72 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Pakistan and China have always been in the same boat through thick and thin, looking out for each other, maintaining a high level of cooperation, mutual understanding, mutual support on issues related to each other's core interests, and has formed an "Iron-core" friendship. Pakistan-China friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples, higher than mountains, deeper than the sea, more fragrant than tea and sweeter than honey. He said that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping, the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has achieved fruitful results, vigorously promoting Pakistan's socio-economic development and putting Pakistan on the road to prosperity and progress. In recent years, China-Pakistan people to people exchanges and cooperation have continued to expand, and Chief Minister Naqvi's successful visit to China will surely further promote cooperation between the two sides in various fields. He also wished the people of Pakistan and China harmony and happiness, and long live the friendship between Pakistan and China!
The reception lasted over two hours and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. Guests watched a documentary film on China's economic and social development and the achievements of the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, praised the great development achievements made by People's Republic of China in the 74 years since its founding, believed that the new achievements of Chinese modernization would provide new opportunities for the world, looked forward to the construction of a closer community of destiny between China and Pakistan in the new era, and wished that the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership would continue to reach new heights.
The full speech from ACG Cao Ke is as follows:
His Excellency the Honorable Governor Baligh Ur Rehman
Honorable Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi
Honorable Federal Minister Fawad Hassan
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends:
Today, we gather here to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. On behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Lahore, I would like to warmly welcome the presence of honorable Governor and honorable Chief Minister and all the guests, and express our high respect and heartfelt gratitude to friends from all walks of life who have long supported China-Pakistan friendship and cooperation. I would like to extend my warm greetings to all our compatriots in the consular area.
Looking back on the past year, the world today is undergoing both transformation and upheaval; momentous changes unseen in a century are accelerating; the Covid-19 pandemic shows a sign of easing, regional conflicts and disturbances are frequent, and the global economic recovery is sluggish. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has coordinated epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, the national economy has continued to recover. China's economic growth rate in the first half of 2023 is 5.5 percent, ranking among the top in major economies worldwide. China's economy is still characterized by tremendous development resilience and potential, and the fundamentals of a long-term positive trend remain unchanged.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, have worked with one heart and one mind in a painstaking struggle, and have made great achievements that have attracted the world's attention. In particular, as China enters a new era, it has taken a series of strategic initiatives, promoted a series of transformative practices, achieved a series of breakthroughs and made a series of landmark achievements. China is striding forward on a new journey to build a modernized socialist country in all respects. No force can shake the status of our great motherland. No force can stop the forward march of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!
Looking back on the past year, China continues to safeguard world peace, promote the progress of human society, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. China always provide the world with new opportunities on the basis of its new development. President Xi Jinping's initiatives on global development, global security, global civilization and the Belt and Road have gained extensive recognition and support from the international community. China is actively leading green and low-carbon development and promoting the normal operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain through its own development. China is actively promoting regional security dialogues and cooperation, calling for the reform of the international financial and monetary system, and endeavoring to works for more inclusive, fair and reasonable global governance, so as to continually enrich and expand the connotations of the global community of shared future, and continue to benefit the people of the world.
Looking back on the past year, China and Pakistan have seen increasingly close exchanges and cooperation in various fields. The construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has achieved fruitful results. By the end of 2022, it has brought a total of $25.4 billion direct investment to Pakistan, created a total of 236,000 jobs, and helped Pakistan add 510 kilometers of new highways, 8,000 megawatts of electricity, and 886 kilometers of the national core power transmission grid.
Not long ago, Vice Premier He Lifeng, as President Xi Jinping's special representative, visited Pakistan and witnessed the signing of six agreements with the then Prime Minister Shehbaz. This significant visit will surely promote the continuous construction of CPEC, improve and upgrade the quality of the corridor, consolidate and deepen the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and push forward the construction of a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future in the new era.
Punjab Province is the economic, cultural and educational center of Pakistan, and has been maintaining a good momentum of exchanges and cooperation with China. With the gradual relaxation of Covid response, continuous optimization of visa policy, resumption and increase of flights to China, the cooperation between Punjab and China in various fields has been further "heating up". Over the past year, the Consulate General has actively promoted the successful visit of the Punjab government delegation, police delegation and media delegation to China, made efforts in resuming direct flights from Lahore to China, joined hands with Chinese enterprises and overseas Chinese associations in Punjab to contribute to the economic and social progress of the community. It vividly reflects the iron-clad friendship between China-Pakistan which is "higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the sea, sweeter than honey". I would also like to express my special thanks to the governments at all levels and law enforcement departments, especially the Special Protection Unit(SPU), for providing policy support and efficient security protection for Chinese citizens, projects and enterprises. I am sure that as CPEC continues to improve and upgrade, cooperation between the Punjab province and China in fields such as agriculture, infrastructure and information industry will be ushering in new opportunities.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends:
As China's Iron-clad brother, Pakistan has always been a high priority in China's neighborhood diplomacy. I firmly believe that China and Pakistan will continue to hold high the banner of friendship and cooperation, strengthen strategic synergy, deepen practical cooperation, promote the construction of CPEC, enrich the connotation of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and jointly build a China-Pakistan community of shared future in the new era, so that the flower of our friendship will surely bloom with New Splendour.
Let’s wish the People's Republic of China prosperity and development! May the friendship between China and Pakistan last forever! China Pakistan Dosti Zindabad!